Linked Languages Resources

Tunisian Arabic

aeb

Tunisian, or Tunisian Arabic is a Maghrebi dialect of the Arabic language, spoken by some 11 million people. It is usually
known by its own speakers as Derja, which means dialect, to distinguish it from Standard Arabic, or as Tunsi, which means
Tunisian. It is spoken all over Tunisia, and merges, as part of a dialect continuum, into similar varieties in eastern Algeria
and western Libya. Its morphology, syntax, pronunciation and vocabulary are quite different from Standard or Classical Arabic.
Tunisian Arabic, like other Maghrebi dialects, has a vocabulary mostly Arabic, with significant Berber substrates, and many
words and loanwords borrowed from Berber, French, Turkish, Italian and Spanish. Derja is mutually spoken and understood in
the Maghreb countries, especially Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, but hard to understand for middle eastern Arabic speakers.
It continues to evolve by integrating new French or English words, notably in technical fields, or by replacing old French
and Spanish ones with Standard Arabic words within some circles. In Eastern Arab countries the similar term (العامية `āmmiyya )
is more commonly used for the colloquial varieties of Arabic there. Moreover, Tunisian is also closely related to Maltese,
which is not considered to be a dialect of Arabic for sociolinguistic reasons. Almost all literate speakers of Tunisian also
understand and can speak some Standard Arabic. Most Tunisians view Tunisian Arabic as a derivative form of Classical Arabic
with loanwords from Berber, French, Italian, Turkish and Spanish though awareness of Tunisian as a distinct language is growing,
especially among the younger generation. Source : DBpedia